Cincinnati Reds' pitcher Aroldis Chapman at his best lately

Hanigan: Closer has never been better

9:37 PM,
Sep. 8, 2013

Written by

C. Trent Rosecrans
| The Cincinnati Enquirer

When talking about Reds closer Aroldis Chapman, it's easy to fall into the trap of hyperbole. But his latest string of appearances have been among his best - and that's backed up both statistically and anecdotally.

After not being used in eight straight games, Chapman pitched in four straight games from Tuesday through Friday. In three of those, he faced just three batters, and in two - Tuesday and Friday - he struck out all three batters he faced.

Over those four innings, he faced 14 batters, allowed one hit (a bloop single), walked one and struck out nine. He's thrown a total of 61 pitches, 44 of ...